Solid Ice
by littleRascall
Summary: Gray is gone. Erza isn't who she jused to be. The guild is devasted. But maybe, just maybe, everything isn't what seems. In this adventure our favourite Fairy Tail mages are tested in love, loyalty and bravery. pairings: mainly Grayza and Nalu, but other pairings are mentioned.


**Hello, littleRascall here! This is my Grayza fanfiction! **

**I've been obsessed with this pairing ever since I saw the episode (in the anime) about how Gray and Erza met and when they became friends. And both Gray and Erza are my favorite characters, so why not pair them together!? **

**Just to clarify this story is partly written in AU, most of the events before the war at Sirius Island and the seven year gap occurred, but in this story they never got to Sirius Island, never encountered Zeref and there wasn't an seven year gap. **

**And I apologize again for my bad writing skills and grammar, I don't normally speak english. So if you see any wrongs, don't hesitate to let me know! :)**

**Warning : this fic is incredibly sad and contains a very sad bunch of people. I actually almost cried while writing this, but blame the music I'm listening to right now, those stupid guys in The Cure and Green Day… ;(**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, belive me, if I did Erza and Gray would definitely be together!**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 1, A empty coffin and a gravestone of marble

Monday 14 august x787

Lucy

The Fairy Tail guildhall was as noisy as usual. People talked, laughed and a few were fighting. Gajeel and Natsu had a argument and was screaming and throwing broken chairs etc. at each other. Mira was serving the customers with her delicious drinks. Cana were drunk and sat happily singing in the bar. Team Shadowgear sat and read books, or more like Levy read a book and the boys were staring at her lovingly. Juvia and Lisana were discussing the latest news and scandals of the monthly Whisard Magazine. Wendy was telling stories about her latest mission, how she had knocked out an entire league of thieves with just one blow.

Lucy sat by one of the tables and was desperately trying to write her novel. She hadn't done anything interesting the last weeks that were worth mentioning. Of course life never were boring in the Fairy Tail guild, but lately she hadn't experienced anything out of the ordinary.

Suddenly the doors of the guildhall was smashed open and in came the infamous Titania. The guild members immediately got quiet and stopped with whatever they were doing. They all gave her sorrowful looks, but she didn't meet their eyes. Erza didn't say a word, her mouth was a flat line and her brown eyes were hard. Her shortcut scarlet hair was slightly ruffled by the hard winds outside, which only increased her already tough appearance.

She marched firmly towards the quest board and took one of the many flyers adoring it. She silently showed it to Mira, who just nodded, and then she just walked out from the guildhall without a single word.

The guildhall was in stunning silence and everyone was looking to the ground. After a half eternity of silence the guild members carefully started to talk again, but now with sorrowful eyes and muffled voices.

Lucy sighted. It had been god knows how long since she had talked to Erza and even longer since she saw her smile or laugh. She really missed her best friend and fellow team mate.

Truth to be told, no one had seen her happy in the last two and a half years.

But the dread expression in Erza's face made her own, already broken heart shatter like glass. She felt silent tears run down her cheeks. Erza wasn't the only one who missed _him_, she wasn't the only one who suffered by _his_ death and she certainly wasn't the only one who missed _him_. They all did.

In the beginning they had tried getting through to Erza, tried to make her open up for them, but with no success. In the end they'd been forced to accept that she, Erza Scarlet, their beloved friend was no more. Left was only the expressionless, hollow hearted and merciless Titania.

It was now over two years since their icemage, one of her best friends and Erza's boyfriend had been declared dead.

She still felt a sting in her chest at the mere thought of Gray. She missed him so so much. He had been the only one who ever showed interest in her novel. He had been the one she could talk freely to about her thoughts and problems and he would always know exactly what to say or answer. He had been someone she always could be herself with. He had been someone she always had fun with. She even missed his annoying fights with Natsu.

She missed those days. The days when the guild where happy and the original Team Natsu was complete, now it was just her, Natsu and Happy... After Erza had officially left the team, they'd recruited Wendy and Gajeel to join their forces.

Sure, she loved them both, they were two of her closest friends, but it still wasn't the same. She'd already accepted it never would return to how it was, and it hurt, more than everything else.

She was so wrapped in her thoughts she hadn't realized she had while crying silently packed her things and left the guildhall. She didn't realise where she was until she had abruptly stopped in front of the Magnolia flower shop.

With tears still streaming down her face she made her way in to the little shop. The florist working in the shop recognised her and greeted her with a gentle smile.

She had come to the shop every monday since Gray's funeral and bought a beautiful bouquet of blue lilies, she had always thought blue suited him.

After paying for the flowers she continued her way to Magnolia graveyard. She walked by the brickwalls and through the gates. She made her way past the many many gravestones until she finally stopped by one of them.

It was a really beautiful gravestone, it was high and completely made of black marble. But what caught her tear filled eyes was the golden inscription at its front. The inscription led following, in which every letter broke her heart even more and made even more tears fall.

Grey Fullbuster

x766 - x785

_Beloved friend, son and brother, who's_

_light became extinct way to early. _

Lucy quietly put the bouquet by the gravestone and then fell down to her knees in front of it. Tears was now streaming down her cheeks. She missed him so so much, she knew they all did, but she liked to believe that she, except from Erza of course, had the rights to miss him a little bit more. She hadn't known him for as long as the other guild members, but he'd been one of her first friends in the guild and had been her closest friend after Erza and Natsu.

Natsu

Natsu had immediately stopped his fight with Gajeel when Erza entered the Guildhall. He watched childhood friend, or rather what was left her. Of all the Fairy Tail members Erza had taken Gray's death the hardest. He wasn't even sure if she'd accepted it yet or if she still was in denial. He hadn't talked to her since Gray's funeral and he really missed her. Of course he understood why she had distanced herself from the guild, but the lack of her presence was still very notable.

Nowadays there wasn't anyone bossing him around and preventing his fights. There wasn't anyone sitting and happily eating strawberry cheesecake. And there certainly wasn't anyone kicking asses with their seventh wheel armor on their missions. Not anymore.

Natsu hadn't dared to leave the guild, like Erza had, not after the funeral, he needed them and they needed him, especially Lucy.

Right after the death declaring of his best friend he'd been really depressed and so had Lucy, and the absence of Erza didn't make it any better. So they'd made the best of the situation and had found comfort in each other's presence. Not long after that they moved in together. They were together, but more for their own sake than for love. Of course they loved each other, but for the past two years they just needed each other's comfort and chests to cry on.

After Erza had left the guild his fight with Gajeel was long forgotten. After a long period of silence people started talking quietly about Erza and Gray, but Natsu didn't want to hear it, he didn't even want to think about it. He'd made his way to the bar and had taken a large glass of beer. He actually had noticed his increasing consuming of alcohol lately, but couldn't bring himself to care, as long as it helped him through day, he was satisfied.

After a while his eyes had started searching through the massive guildhall for a familiar blonde, but couldn't find her anywhere. 'Strange , I could have sworn she sat by the large window there writing her novel, just a little while ago. She maybe went home' he thought. He then turned to the white haired bartender.

-'Hey Mira, did you see where did Lucy go'?

-'She left right after Erza's short visit, she was crying...' The bartender casually answered while pouring some drinks.

-'Oh, okey thanks Mira.' he answered, he knew exactly where Lucy had gone, the same place she always went to when she was upset. To Magnolia Graveyard and to a certain someone's grave.

While entering the graveyard he spotted a certain blonde with her head hanging low and her shoulders shivering of sobs. She was kneeling in the cold and wet grass and her hands was tightly clenched into fists.

He quietly walked up to her and but a hand on her bare shoulder. She slowly turned her head and met his eyes. Her face was stained by tears and he realised that she probably had been here crying for over a hour. He immediately felt bad for not noticing her state of despair sooner.

He lowered himself beside her and wrapped his arms around her. She hugged him back and cried against his shoulder and soon he found himself crying just as much.

He was angry at Gray for leaving the guild, for leaving him, for leaving Lucy and especially for leaving Erza. But Natsu knew Gray hadn't meant to die, it wasn't his fault, but it still hurt.

-'I miss him to, Luce' he said with weak voice.

-' I just wish I accompanied him at that stupid mission' she said between hard sobs.

-'We all do'... he answered.

They sat there tightly hugging each other and crying way past sundown.

When he noticed how late it had become he raised himself up and and helped Lucy to her feet. His tears had already dried, but Lucy was still crying, but not as hard as before. They said their goodbyes and went back home in silence, hand in hand.

That night neither of them could help but think about that horrible, horrible day two and a half years ago...

19 july x785, 2 years earlier

(flashback)

_It had been a normal day in the Fairy Tail guildhall. Everyone were laughing, talking about their completed missions and planning their upcoming ones. Lucy sat with Erza, Mira, Levy and Cana eating strawberry cheesecake, it had been Erza's choice and therefore no one had argued about it. Natsu and Happy were playing a boardgame against Gajeel and Panterlily, in which they were loosing bigtime. _

Team Natsu, hadn't taken a quest for some time, and was for the moment waiting for their icemage to return.

Gray had taken a quest by himself and had left three weeks earlier. It had only been a small S-class mission, something about checking up on a magical creature. He had therefore decided to go alone, much to Erza's dismay. It wasn't anything complicated and he promised he would be back before the end of the week.

But now it had been over three weeks without a single word from him…

Some of the guild members was a bit worried because he hadn't come back yet, but then reminded themselves that he wasn't an s-class mage for nothing.

It had come as a surprise for everyone when he'd won the s-class competition, teamed up with the celestial spirit Loki. The most of them still had it hard to process that Gray defeated Natsu in the final round. And they wouldn't forget that fight for as long as they lived.

_But then all of a sudden the guild doors were flung opened and in came a tall, old man with long white beard wearing a long orange cape. Everyone fell silent and directed their attention the newcomer. It wasn't everyday new people visited the guild. _

_\- 'excuse me, I would like to talk to the master of the fairy tail guild' he said in a hoarse voice, but at the same time demanding voice. _

_Master Makarov arched a questioning eyebrow and slowly approached the man._

_\- 'Oh, yes that would be me, I am Master Makarov of the Fairy Tail guild' he said in a optimistic voice. _

_-'How can I be at service?' he asked. _

_The stranger cleared his _ _throat -' Yes…' he hesitated before he continued, _

_-'My name is Draco Glim, I'm the head of a village in the mountains of north Magnolia. We have had a lot of problems with a mysterious magical creature that has eaten our cattle and attacked people further down in a nearby valley. A few weeks ago I was informed that a s-class mage from your guild had accepted our request, a certain Mr. Fullbuster if I remember correctly'... _

_He was then caught of by Makarov who sighted loudly and muttered _

_-' Oh… 'Mavis, what has the boy done now…?' _

_The man cleared his throat once again and said hesitantly _

_-'Well, I don't really know how to say this.., but we haven't received any mage from your guild and especially not a icemage'... _

_-'You're sure…?, he's a tall guy with black messy hair and has a tendency to strip off his clothes. He's actually quite hard to forget', Cana said with a playful sarcasm in her words. _

_-'No… I'm sorry, I haven't met anyone who matches your description' the man casually replied. _

_They suddenly saw how Erza's plate with strawberry cheesecake fell to the floor and was shattered in a million peices. Her eyes were suddenly deadly sharp and her mouth put in a firm line. _

_-'Wait, let me get this straight, Grey did never show up in your village in the northern mountains?' she asked in a hard voice that got several people around her to flinch._

_\- 'Eeeh… yes… that's right...' the poor man stuttered. _

_-'That's only a three days trip from here and we all know he got on the train. He already should have arrived in the Northern Mountains ' Erza said with a puzzled look at her face. _

_-'OMG!, what if something happened to him along the way!' Lucy exclaimed hysterically and immediately began to hyperventilate. _

_-'No.' Erza said with a firm voice. _

_-'He's strong, barely a few people could even stand a chance against him, and the most of them are either here at the guild or locked away by the Magic Council'. _

_-'Yeah Lucy, Erza's right. Gray is much stronger than he appears' Natsu said in a attempt to a comforting voice. But the comment only received an angry look from Erza. _

_Erza was of course right. But they all had a bad feeling about this. This wasn't like him at all. He was strict about his missions and always finished them, no matter the cost. And if he against all odds couldn't make it, he would certainly inform them. He would never accept a quest and then just never show up. _

_Erza sounded so convincing in front of the guild, but even she had her doubts. Later that night the other girls at Fairy Hills could hear her sobs from her rooms. _

They went out searching the very next day. They took the train to the northern part of Magnolia. They knew he did enter the train because they had waved him off at the trainstation. But after that the trail gone cold. They stayed and searched in every town and village along the northern railroad, but with no success whatsoever. No one they asked had seen anybody with the description they gave them. They searched in the mountains close to the said village for several weeks and then all the surrounding cities, but there was no sign of Gray. It was like he'd just disappeared from the face of earth.

Erza's life were slowly shattering into pieces, bit by bit, but she held on the vague hope that he actually was somewhere out there.

After six months without any sign whatsoever from Gray, the guild decided to believe the worst. That Gray Fullbuster wasn't with them anymore. A week later they held his funeral. They buried a empty coffin.

Erza

She had visited the guildhall today, well visited maybe wasn't the right word. She had barely stormed in and taken a mission. As usual she hadn't said anything. She couldn't. She was scared. Yes the infamous Titania, The Titania was scared.

She was scared of talking to her friends… or maybe former friends… they probably hated her now for totally ignoring them for two years…. But she really couldn't confront them after the funeral, she couldn't confront them about _him_…

She missed them very much, but not as much as she missed _him_. But she especially missed those days when all of them were together, going on missions, hanging out at Lucy's place, having pointless fights and then laughing afterwards. Laughing seemed to be something she'd forgotten how to do, laughing was something you did when you were happy and she wasn't the slightest happy. Erza hadn't been happy for over two and a half years.

Not since _that day_, which certainly had been one the worst days in her life, the funeral had probably been the worst.

Everyone had cried, but her. She couldn't cry for and mourn a empty coffin. _He _wasn't there, the body of Gray Fullbuster wasn't buried in _that_ coffin and wasn't resting under _that_ gravestone. There was only an empty coffin and a stone with _his_ name written on it.

But she couldn't deny he was gone. He wasn't there anymore. She couldn't feel his arm around her shoulders. She couldn't hear his low and smooth voice in til her ear. She couldn't feel his slightly blistered hands rubbing circles at her back.

But that wasn't the worst part, she knew he wasn't there, but she didn't know _WHERE _he was, she didn't know if he was sitting at some snowcovered mountain top practicing his magic or if he was lying dead at the bottom of the sea. She prefered the first one.

She didn't want to believe he was dead, but if he wasn't, then why hadn't he contacted her, letting her know he was alive and well…?

No, she really didn't want to think about that. Not now, not ever. But she knew she couldn't keep this up, she couldn't keep lying to herself.

These thoughts had been eating her up from the inside ever since the funeral and it became even more intense in the presence of the other guild members. She still considered them as family, even if they didn't and she would always love them.

But because of the memories that were linked to her friends and family, the memories of Gray, she'd distanced herself from them. She had stopped talking to her fellow guildmates. She'd quit Team Natsu. She barely came into the guildhall at all. She'd moved from Fairy Hills and bought a apartment in the outskirts of Magnolia.

She had many times considered quitting the guild completely, but she didn't have the heart to do so. They were her family after all, her friends, the ones that took her in and they were the only ones she'd left…

Even though she didn't talk to them, she always held an eye on them when they were out on missions. And she always knew if something new happened in the guild because Master Makarov secretly sent her letters once or twice each month that told her news of what happened in the guild.

That night she had a hard time going to sleep. She felt alone, left alone the world, by her family, her friends, and by the only person she'd ever truly loved.

She drow her fingers through her shortcut hair. The day after the funeral she'd cut it off, so it would be exactly as it was when they met. She felt a little closer that way.

The pillows felt unusually uncomfortable and the covers unusually thin. She suddenly wished for him to be there, now more than ever. Silent tears ran down and landed at the already damp pillow. She cried herself into the land of dreams that night.

Silently begging for him to lay down beside her and wrap his strong arms around her. But exactly as many nights before she fell asleep alone and cold.

**A/N. **

**For those who read this earlier, yes I changed some stuff and added some new stuff, but I hope it's better now than before! **

**WWAAAAAAHHHH, that was some serious sappyness, but as I said earlier everyone becomes sappy by listening too much to The Cure and Green Day. **

**Anyways this story is far from finished, this was only the beginning, hehe, more sappy chapters are coming, but I sincerely promise there will be some happiness too, I can't promise anything, yet, But I actually can promise you a lot of badass Erza, a very hungry Natsu, a lovesick Happy, a concerned Lucy and what's wrong with Windy, what happened? **

**Just wait! And I promise I will update sooner next time! **

**See 'ya!**

**/LR**


End file.
